Residents of Lier, Belgium have merely to look towards the Zimmer Tower if they desire to learn the difference in minutes between the apparent solar time and the mean solar time. The equation of time is just one of thirteen fascinating dials displayed on the Centenary (Jubilee) clock affixed to the former keep. Other dials demonstrate the metonic cycle, solar cycle, lunar cycle, and zodiac.

The clockmaker Louis Zimmer presented the timepiece to his native town in 1930, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Belgium’s independence. The clock displays its varied time-related information through elaborate drawings, steady hands, and mechanical globes. Every quarter hour, three statues on the tower’s wing, representing three phases of human life (child, adolescent, and adult) strike the bells with a fourth figurine (old man) joining on the hour. At noon, a celebratory parade consisting of past kings, mayors, and burgomasters takes the onlooker through Belgium’s first 100 years of independence.

The first floor of the tower houses Zimmer’s extraordinary Astronomical Studio. Built concurrently with the Centenary clock over a period of five years, the studio is comprised of a planetarium with a revolving disk on the ceiling replicating the Northern hemisphere. The tower’s gear mechanism takes up the entire second floor. All thirteen faces are controlled by a single master clock that adjusts the 75 dials every 6 seconds.

In 1960, the town dedicated a tower pavilion adjacent to the tower to accommodate Zimmer’s Astronomical Clock. The clockmaker’s tour de force is 16 feet high and weighs over 4,500 Ibs. It contains 93 dials, one of which, recording the period of precession of the Earth’s axis, holds the world record for slowest clock pointer. It will take 25,800 years to complete a full revolution.

Join us at the Zimmer Clock Tower & Museum this Obscura Day to receive €1 off regular admission!

Stay in Touch!

No purchase necessary. Winner will be selected at random on 04/01/2019. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). Offer subject to change without notice. See contest rules for full details.

Add Some Wonder to Your Inbox

Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you.

We'd Like You to Like Us

We value your privacy

Atlas Obscura and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our website to personalise ads, support social media features, and analyse our traffic. Please click below to consent to the use of this technology while browsing our site. To learn more or withdraw consent, please visit our privacy policy.